UK - In celebration of its 25th anniversary year, Martin Professional held a special 'Innovation and Inspiration' event for industry professionals at two of London's premiere locations - the landmark BT Tower and the award-winning headquarters of creative communications company, Imagination. Held on 3 May, the day featured presentations by senior Imagination member Paul Scott, as well as leading UK lighting designer Bernie Davis.

Because consumer brands are increasingly judged by the experiences they offer, Paul Scott put forward for attendees Imagination's overriding philosophy to imagine a more creative future for their clients. "We have always tried to push innovation and lighting technology and one main distinction is that we rarely think of the medium first - we think of a way of doing something first, and then apply whatever medium is applicable. It is always our poli

USA - High End Systems has announced two customer interaction events in the month of June. These hands-on open houses present the latest automated, digital, and console products to customers in a local environment. In addition, Wholehog training seminars allow attendees the opportunity to learn the Wholehog console line without leaving their home location.

Activities begin 12 and 13 June, 2012 with a Wholehog training session held at the ESP Vision headquarters in Las Vegas, Nevada. This introduction course covers the powerful Wholehog Control Software, which is used on the Wholehog 3 Console, Road Hog, Road Hog Full Boar, the Hog iPC and Hog 3PC. Students will learn on Road Hog Full Boar consoles connected to ESP Vision.

The Wholehog training will be followed by an open house event to be held on 14 June, 2012 at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, also in Las Vegas, Nevada. Produ

Azerbaijan - The Eurovision Song Contest recently completed its 57th year, held at The Baku Crystal Hall in Azerbaijan, a new multi-purpose indoor arena with a capacity of 23.000 spectators. The Baku Crystal Hall was commissioned by the City of Baku specifically for this event and construction was completed in a mere eight months.

Baku hosted 42 participating countries spanning three live broadcasts - two Semi-finals on 22 and 24 May and the finals on 26 May. The 2012 Finals had a live viewing audience of 23,000 plus an estimated 125m television and internet viewers worldwide, making it one of the largest music television programmes in the world.

Lighting designer Jerry Appelt specified a spectacular arsenal of lighting for the new arena. More than 1,400 moving lights (2.891 fixtures total) allowed the 42 contestants, plus an elaborate interval act and opening performance, to

Slovenia - LumenRadio, a technology leader in wireless lighting controls, has played a critical role in a new, energy efficient lighting project for an unusual traffic intersection in Zagorje ob Savi, in central Slovenia.

The Las Vegas-style roundabout, including a sizeable fountain lit with submersed LED lights and a sound system synced to the water pumps, was equipped with additional lights that provide area-wide colour washes and special effects for public holiday celebrations such as Christmas and New Year. LumenRadio's Slovenian distributor, MK Light Sound d.o.o., was asked by the local municipality to supply a lighting control system that not only would leave an uncluttered look and be invisible to the public, but could also be installed without disrupting traffic.

Dean Karov, product manager at MK Light Sound d.o.o., Ljubljana, found the solution in CRMX technology - sp

Australia - Monkey Baa Theatre Company produces high quality theatre programmes for young people, their families, teachers and communities throughout Australia and internationally. Established in 1997, the company has achieved critical acclaim for its work and today enjoys a national reputation for producing quality theatre programs for young people.

Monkey Baa has just moved into the Lend Lease Darling Quarter Theatre which is equipped with an ETC Ion lighting control console. When production and operations manager Toby Knyvett needed to specify a console for touring, he chose an ETC Element console.

"The ETC Eos/Ion/Element family of consoles is definitely offer the best control products for the Australian theatre sector at the moment," Knyvett commented. "They are what many theatre venues are moving towards."

Designed to handle lighting systems outfitt

UK - Having just reported its best month of trading ever, Ambersphere Solutions is preparing to exhibit at the ABTT Theatre Show, taking place at the Old Truman Brewery on Brick Lane, London on 13-14 June.

The ABTT exhibition will provide a platform for visitors to see the recently launched, time-saving battery powered LED GlowUp fixture and the feature packed Alpha Spot QWO800 from Clay Paky.

"We are delighted to be showcasing these products to the theatre industry at ABTT," comments Glyn O'Donoghue, MD of Ambersphere Solutions. "Our experienced team will be on hand throughout the show to demonstrate the myriad features of these phenomenal products, and answer any questions visitors may have."

The new A.LEDA LED moving head range will also be on display. This is "a sophisticated alternative to a traditional washlight" but offers all the benefit

The Netherlands - After the success of the 2010 and 2011 editions, Euphoria 2012, organised by the Agency b2s was held last 12 May at the Central Studios in Utrecht. b2s is a major Dutch company specialized in the creation of big dance events.

Euphoria 2012 offered a highly energetic non-stop show from 10 pm to 6 am, performed by leading DJs including Wasted Penguinz, Psyko Punkz, Frequencerz, Noisecontrollers, and Deepack.

The new DTS LED moving heads NICK NRG 1201, installed on the dance floor by the Dutch rental company First Impression, added a great dynamic to the event.

Thanks to their long throw motorised zoom (8 ° - 50 °) and high-speed pan / tilt system integrated by 'FPR' (pan endless rotation), the NRG NICK 1201 were an integral part of the show, projecting extra-bright beams and very concentrated and saturated colours, with rapid and precise head movement

The Netherlands - There is something interesting going on at Thornico, a diverse family-owned business based in Rotterdam with a penchant for green values and a 'Company Karma' that espouses doing good as well as doing well.

The Thornico Group is made up of a variety of companies working in a broad array of areas from food to finance to fashion. At the Thornico Building, a large complex of office spaces, shops, dining and cultural facilities, atriums and large parking garage located in central Rotterdam, the 'Company Karma' philosophy is embodied by a host of green initiatives that includes the use of Martin LED lighting.

Danish design office Kollision, together with Martin Professional and in dialogue with Christian Stadil, owner of the Thornico Group, and Thornico real estate director Ronald L.M. Bouwens, developed and implemented a complete exterior lighting design for the

Azerbaijan - Parasol Advanced Systems of Vancouver, BC, Canada, was literally the centre of attention at the Eurovision Song Contest 2012, held at the 23,000-seat Baku Crystal Hall in Azerbaijan.

Amongst a stage and ceiling filled with hundreds of lighting fixtures, the ParasolTM KLRTM (Kinetic Light Ring) system stood out as the centrepiece over the stage. The Parasol KLR system allows moving lights to move along a circular truss in any configuration at up to 60 inches per second. Stopping, starting, reversing, accelerating and moving to an operator-specified position are all controllable features, providing entirely new ways of creating art and spectacle with moving lights.

The system in Baku included three concentric rings - two of which were the KLR rings - all lit with Clay Paky Alpha Beam 1500s. The inner KLR ring was 10ft in diameter with 10 Alpha Beam 1500s and the sec

UK - Clay Paky Sharpys, sporting Union Jack coverings, shone brightly alongside some of the world's most famous pop royalty to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee.

The patriotic Sharpys, dressed up in custom made Union Jack jackets, were a welcome sight amongst the pageantry of the day as they delivered a dazzling display of laser-like lighting at the evening celebrations that marked the 60th anniversary of Queen's reign.

Lighting designer Durham Marenghi employed more than 240 Clay Paky fixtures, hired from London based rental house Neg Earth, to deliver a stunning, varied and dynamic lighting design for superstar acts that included Kylie Minogue, Elton John, Sir Paul McCartney, Grace Jones plus a host of pop glitterati.

Broadcast worldwide, and locally to a series of video screens rigged along the full length of the Mall and surrounding Royal parks, Marenghi ha

USA - Chauvet has confirmed its participation in PLASA Focus: Nashville 2012. The Chauvet Professional booth number during the two-day event, held at The Nashville Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn., is 302.

Chauvet will show case the latest members of their Legend and COLORado families withLegend 412 and COLORado Zoom Tour, as well as the newest member of their Q-Series with Q-Spot 460-LED. Also featured, are Q-Wash 560Z LED moving yoke, MVP modular video panels and the wireless fixture WELL.

(Jim Evans)

Sweden - Wireless Solution Sweden AB has announced that Ape Labs has chosen W-DMX as an OEM partner for wireless DMX. The first fixtures they will implement W-DMX into is the Mobilight 3 and the Mobilight 3S, which are going into immediate production.

The Mobilight is a professional rechargeable battery-based show spot light for mobile applications - no cables, versatile and flexible in use. The unit is optimal for mobile usage at events, stage shows and in clubs and discotheques. It is precisely for this reason that the advanced LED spotlights are already a key element in the repertoire of many lighting technicians.

New in the portfolio is the Mobilight 3S, an LED spotlight with cables for fixed installation in stores and display windows, restaurants and hotel lobbies, foyers and also at home.

Julius Schrenk, MD of APE LABS Lichtprodukte GmbH said, "We reviewed all bra

South Africa -The newly built Soweto Theatre, designed by Afritects, is the first professional performing arts venue developed in a former township. Since opening it has been grabbing headlines worldwide for its eye-catching, colourful exterior. Nevertheless for project theatre consultant Denis Hutchinson it's the innovation inside, including Philips Strand Lighting dimming and Selecon luminaires, that he hopes will have an equally dramatic impact on artists, theatre staff, audiences and community residents.

After the inevitable tender process with city funds, Hutchinson recommended Philips Selecon luminaires and Philips Strand WallRack for all three of the groundbreaking Soweto Theatre's venues. The theatre, which will be used by professional and amateur companies, national and international alike, called out to be technically equipped with kit that can be commonly found in pro

Live Statistics - Southbank Centre in London is the leading music venue in the UK , according to new figures released by PRS for Music. During 2011, Southbank Centre, which consists of the Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room and the Hayward Gallery, held 422 musical events - attended by over a million people.

Robert Ashcroft, Chief Executive, PRS for Music said, "I am thrilled to see so many cultural centres featured in the analysis, from the newly opened Kings Place in London and The Sage in Gateshead to the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester . These venues have very diverse and exciting programmes that appeal to many different audiences. It is an enormous accomplishment to run a successful live music space and in spite of economic challenges, the British live music scene is still strong."

PRS for Music, the organisation that collects

Ukraine - Donetsk-based company CORTMI Ltd., PR Lighting's Ukrainian distributor, has carried out an interesting lighting installation at a war memorial in their native city.

Under contract from the city administration they have created a dramatic and haunting lightscape, using PR Lighting LED fixtures, for the restored Victims of Fascism monument, located in the park at the Centre for Slavic Culture. This monument is one of the most important places to pay homage to the horrors of the Second World War in the region.

CORTMI turned to three of PR Lighting's new ARC LED 3216, using them with other narrowly focused white light illuminators. This fixture is a newly-automated and highly-flexible flexible 'double-headed' RGBWA fixture, containing 216 x 3W high quality LEDs, and inheriting its bright output from the PR-8802.

The three LED spotlights have been placed on specially in

Canada - Home to Canadian Football League team BC Lions and Major League Soccer team Vancouver Whitecaps FC, Vancouver's BC Place stadium is a premier venue. It has hosted appearances from such iconic figures as Pope John Paul II, Madonna, Michael Jackson and, of course, Winter Olympic athletes.

Following a major upgrade, BC Place has become a new landmark of Vancouver's skyline and a place of pride for all British Columbians, due in no small part to the new lighting effects system, which not only adds to the stadium architecturally but also allows BC Place to 'come alive' both inside and out.

Controlling this new and sophisticated integrated lighting system, which utilises energy-efficient LED fixtures from Lumenpulse, is a Pharos LPC 60 programmed with the Pharos Designer software, enabling displays of a vast array of static or moving colour designs on the exterior and inter

UK - At this week's ABTT Theatre Show, newly relocated to the Old Truman Brewery at Brick Lane in London's East End, entertainment lighting specialist White Light will be showing some of the very latest advances in lighting technology - some brand new, some already put to use on recent high-profile events.

The highest profile of these was the Diamond Jubilee concert at Buckingham Palace, which featured the new i-Line battens from i-Pix. Building on the success of the renowned BB range, the i-Line 600 and i-Line 1200 RGBW battens are incredibly bright with beautifully smooth output, a true 'next generation' LED fixture.

The next generation of profile spotlights from Robert Juliat will also be on show following their debut at PLASA Focus in Leeds a few weeks ago. Tibo is a compact, lightweight dual zoom range profile with light source options including tungsten, warm white LED,

Singapore - American progressive metal band Dream Theater has used Clay Paky Alpha Spot HPE 1500s and Clay Paky Sharpys, supplied by Singapore's Showtec Communication Pte, to deliver a dramatic light show at the iconic 1700-seater Kallang Theatre in Singapore.

The venue, which has recently been refurbished to become an Asian Arts and Culture Hub, is an important stop in the band's demanding 2012 world tour. Dream Theater is extremely popular in the region and even more so since its album, A Dramatic Turn of Events became one of the group's most successful yet, reaching number 8 on the US Billboard 200 and number one in ten different countries.

"Dream Theater's live shows have become bigger and more diverse since they formed back in 1985," reports band lighting designer Steve Baird. "They demand a sense of drama and high impact lighting has always been a c

UK - Swedish Dance Sensation Avicci got the Bank Holiday party started last weekend playing two major shows as part of his tour in London and Dublin's 02 Arena's.

Richard Martin Lighting (RML) supported Just Lite Dublin for the Ireland show by supplying Martin LC2140 panels and Atomic Strobes.

Nick Malbon designed and operated the show and he said of the units, "The screen was a joy to use, it has the punch needed for a dance event like this and the package sent by Richard Martin is as near plug and play as these things get."

(Jim Evans)

UK - London's Royal Opera House has expanded its extensive HMI lighting stock by investing in Robert Juliat Cin'k 326 LFV 2.5K HMI Fresnels.

Robert Juliat Cin'k Fresnels are available with interchangeable lamp bases offering a choice of 1200W or 2500W HMI and 2500W or 5000W tungsten light sources, but Royal Opera House senior lighting manager, Nick Ware, particularly specified the HMI model.

"The HMI Cin'k Fresnel is ideal because the Royal Opera House already has in its possession a large number of Robert Juliat D'Artagnan 2500W HMI profiles," explains Ware. "The Cin'ks replace our old HMI Fresnels which were becoming worn out and obsolete, so finding spare parts for them was becoming increasingly difficult. But the Cin'ks use the same ballasts, header cables and many spare parts as our D'Artagnans which streamlines stock control and makes maintenance easy.&quo

South Africa - LumenRadio's CRMX lighting control products were recently used in the spectacular 18th South African Music Awards (SAMAs) held at the Sun City Superbowl Arena in front of a large enthusiastic crowd and broadcast live on national television.

Robert Hoey of Dream Sets got an assignment from the client, Vertical Limit Productions, that most set designers only can dream about and he (despite the name of the company) never got before; design your dream set without limitations.

Hoey came up with a design incorporating inflatables, described as Dr. Seuss meets Sci-Fi style, that reached beyond the stage and over the audience. The production design also included a massive compliment of AV and lighting equipment from brands like Robe, Clay Paky, Avolites, MA Lighting, Robert Juliat, LSC, and Selecon with support from local companies MGG Productions, AV Unlimited and Audi

Azerbaijan - MA Lighting once again took control for the Eurovision Song Contest, which recently completed its 56th consecutive year, held at the Baku Crystal Hall in Azerbaijan.

Lighting designer Jerry Appelt, who was also the lighting designer of last year's Eurovision Song Contest in Germany, specified an impressive lighting rig to compliment the new arena. More than 1,400 moving lights (2,891 lighting fixtures total) with 39,860 parameters allowed 42 countries plus an elaborate interval act and opening performance to have a completely unique look during the overall 7-hour broadcasts.

MA Lighting took total control of the show. Eight grandMA2 full-size consoles, as well as five grandMA2 fader wing ran all lighting, triggered via Timecode. Fifteen MA NPU (Network Processing Unit) devices and 21 x MA NSP (Network Signal Processor) handled all traffic in one session on the MA-

UK - Moving Light Assistant has joined the City Theatrical family of professional lighting software which includes Vectorworks and Lightwright 5. Moving Light Assistant simplifies the complex task of organizing and documenting moving light rigs.

Visitors to City Theatrical's stand #50 at ABTT 2012 at the Old Truman Brewery can see a demonstration of the programme from its author, professional designer/programmer Andrew Voller.

Moving Light Assistant can be used from the pre-production phase for planning and designing the moving light rig right through to producing the final documentation of the programming, and is designed to fill the needs of deisgners, programmers, production electricians, and show crews. Moving Light Assistant's licensing program is simple and straightforward and the product is free for those who only need a reader/demo version.

City Theatrical will also

USA - - Barco has added three heavy-duty and high-definition three-chip DLP projectors to its rental portfolio. The new HDF-W22 offers 22,000 lumens light output, the HDF-W26 clocks in at 26,000 lumens and the HDQ-2K40 generates no less than 40,000 lumens.

Additionally, Barco's HDX-W18, HDF-W26 and HDQ-2K40 projectors will be available with a unique adjustable brightness feature later this year. Thanks to this 'light-on-demand' technology, rental partners have full flexibility to tune the light output of their projector to the specific needs of their customer's event, says the company. Barco will unveil the new HDF-W22, HDF-W26 and HDQ-2K40 projectors at InfoComm in Las Vegas this week.

(Jim Evans)

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